Louis Vierne (1870-1937)
Complete Organ Music
Wolfgang Rübsam (organ)
rec. 1992-1994
BRILLIANT CLASSICS 96398 [8 CDs: 577]
Amongst my many collections of the complete organ works of J.S. Bach, that of Wolfgang Rübsam, recorded by Philips (456080-20) in the 1970s, remains a firm favorite. It looks like it’s been deleted, but is well-worth seeking out on the second-hand market. So, I was very pleased to be offered this 8 CD set of the complete organ music of Louis Vierne, newly released on the Brilliant Classics label. The recordings, set down between 1992-1994, have had previous incarnations as separate volumes, but this is the first time they’ve been gathered together under one roof.
Louis Vierne forged a distinguished career as an organist and composer. He was born blind with congenital cataracts, but at the age of six his sight was partially restored with surgery. His teachers were Franck and Widor at the Paris Conservatoire, and in 1894 he took the first prize in organ. In 1901 he became titular organist at Notre Dame, remaining in post until 1937. It was at an evening recital on 2 June of that year that he succumbed to a fatal heart attack at the console.
Ralf Bölting in his liner notes comments on the high regard in which Vierne was held. He “composed works of enormous intensity, tension, formal architecture and overwhelming brilliance ………(and) brought the accomplishments of his teachers to a pinnacle….”. His organ works owe much to Franck and Widor, but in his later compositions he departs from them in his more complicated chromatic harmonies, at times bordering on atonality.
He composed sixty-two opus-numbered works, most of which were for the organ. His organ oeuvre consists of 6 symphonies, 2 low masses, 24 pieces in the free style and 4 volumes of fantasies. Away from the organ, his other music includes orchestral, chamber, song cycles and church music. His organ works were written with a specific type of instrument in mind, those built by Aristide Cavaillé-Coll (1811-1899), who revived organ building in France to produce “the symphonic organ”. Rübsam performs on three organs in this collection: Aristide Cavaillé-Coll Organ at Saint-François-de-Sales, Lyon, Aristide Cavaillé-Coll Organ at Saint-Antoine-des-Quinze-Vingts, Paris and the Ernest M. Skinner Organ at Rockerfeller Memorial Chapel, Chicago. Full specifications of each instrument are included in the booklet.
There’s no doubting the fact that the 6 symphonies are his best known and most recorded works. Composed over a thirty year period, they represent the apogee of his compositional career. At the time of his death, sketches for a seventh symphony remained on the drawing board. All have five movements with the exception of No. 1 which has six. I’ve already mentioned the influence of Franck, and this reveals itself in their unifying cyclical structures. You’ll find them intensely dramatic, ingeniously constructed and breathtakingly beautiful. Other compelling features are their shifting chromaticism, tonal ambiguity and pungent harmonies. Over the years, it’s the Third that seems to have gained the most popularity, but not for me. My favorite is the Fifth. Written between 1923-1924, its more complex harmonies, eldritch mystery, increasing dissonance and the appearance of Wagnerian leitmotifs, reveal a forward development in the composer’s compositional technique. Rübsam emphasizes the dark elements that run through the score, a reflection of the composer’s tragic sorrows, including the premature deaths of his loved ones, accidents and blindness. Yet, it’s not all sombre austerity, there are lighter textures in the Scherzo with its clear-cut rhythms, and the finale is more positive and upbeat. These personal tragedies also permeate the narrative of the Sixth Symphony, which Vierne composed seven years before his death. Once again, the harmonies are highly original and forward thinking. Rübsam fully capitalizes on the organ’s panoply of colour registrations.
Vierne left two masses, specifically designed for the liturgy: Messe basse, Op.30 and Messe basse pour les défunts, Op.62. The former I don’t find particularly appealing, but the latter is very fine indeed. Structured in six movements, it’s a late work dating from 1934. The opening Introit has an ethereal and otherworldly quality, with the following Prélude having something ominous and portentous about it. The Elévation is reverential and serene, whilst the closing Défilé calls time in imposing fashion. Rübsam captures the work’s dark mood to perfection.
In 1913 Vierne penned 24 Pièces en style libre, Op.31, contained in two books. In tribute to J.S. Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier, the pieces run the gamut of all the major and minor keys. Some of them sound quite grotesque and eccentric. All brief morsels, some sound more intimate and, at times, confessional, as in Préambule (No. 1), Complainte (No. 3), Épitaphe (No. 4) and Méditation (No. 7). Others are more extravagant, such as Divertissement (No. 11), Scherzetto (No. 14) and Postlude (No. 24). To each, Rübsam confers a wealth of colouristic effects.
In contrast to the 24 Pièces en style libre which are arranged in ascending chromatic order, the 24 Pièces de fantaisie, written much later in 1926-1927, also in every major and minor key, are grouped into four six-movement suites. Harmonic logic in the ordering is completely abandoned. Favorites of mine include Carillon de Westminster, based on the Westminster chimes and dedicated to Henry Willis. Then there’s the imposing Cathédrales, cloaked in austere splendour and the contrasting Feux follets which chuckes with impish glee.
Rübsam is partnered by the The Millar Brass Ensemble for Marche triomphale du centenaire de Napoleon I, Op.46, a work dating from 1921. It’s an impressive fanfare pageant, where the Ernest M. Skinner Organ and brass ensemble agreeably complement each other, with a even balance struck.
This is a thoroughly enjoyable set, well recorded and well apportioned. For those coming to Vierne for the first time, this comprehensive collection will provide the ideal primer.
Stephen Greenbank
Contents
Allegretto, op.1
Communion, op.8
Improvisations (3)
Marche triomphale du centenaire de Napoleon I, op.46*
Messe basse, op.30
Messe basse pour les defunts, op.62
Organ Symphonies no.1-6 (complete)
Pieces de fantaisie (24): Suite no.1, op.51
Pieces de fantaisie (24): Suite no.2, op.53
Pieces de fantaisie (24): Suite no.3, op.54
Pieces de fantaisie (24): Suite no.4, op.55
Pieces en style libre (24), op.31
Prelude funebre, op.4
Triptyque, op.58
Verset fugue sur 'In exitu Israel'
Participating artists:
The Millar Brass Ensemble*
